


It's a reflex

by Moonprincess92



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Casual Sex, Casual dating, F/M, Jyn and Kay have an actual conversation, Kissing, goodbye kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 21:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12044289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonprincess92/pseuds/Moonprincess92
Summary: Jyn Erso accidentally kisses Cassian Andor goodbye.She definitely doesn’t freak out about it.





	It's a reflex

When Jyn woke, she was alone.

It didn’t worry her. A chronic morning person, Cassian was always up at the crack of dawn, pottering around his flat making coffee or reading the newspaper or whatever the hell it was that ‘cultured’ people like him did in the mornings. Jyn, on the other hand, routinely stayed up til 3am watching vine compilation videos on YouTube and therefore did not emerge from bed until late morning if it was an option. She yawned, rolling over to see his empty side of the bed and the partially open bedroom door beyond. She could hear him humming, banging around somewhere in the kitchen and she let a hand stretch out under the sheets. It was always cold without him. She sighed, moving to drag herself out of bed.

You know, in any other situation, this might have been sweet and domestic.

She found him at the kitchen table, munching on toast and scrolling through the news on his phone. Shirtless and hair in a scruffy disarray, Jyn sometimes wondered how she’d gotten herself to this point … maybe she shouldn’t have had that third tequila shot all those months ago. If she hadn’t, then she never would have gotten up the nerve to go talk to the hot guy who’d been eyeing her up across the bar. If she hadn’t, they never would have kissed over a bowl of peanuts with some ridiculous pop song in the background. If she hadn’t, she never would have gone home with him … time after time after time.

“Six months in and you still can’t do the decent thing of waking me up at a reasonable hour.”

“I’ve tried dragging you out of bed before,” he threw back across the room without looking up. “Never works.”

Her hands fidgeted a little, suppressing a smile. Then, she moved to perch on the edge of the table next to him, bending down and stealing a bite of his toast just as he’d been about to put it in his own mouth.

He sighed as she chewed triumphantly. Wordlessly, he handed what was left over to her and she took it gratefully.

“Besides, I know that you’ll always leave eventually,” Cassian pointed out, going back to his phone only a little exasperated. “I don’t exactly feed you well.”

“This toast is divine.”

“Oh yes,” Cassian snorted. “my cooking skills are getting much better.”

“Exactly, you’ll be on Masterchef next.”

He grinned, shaking his head as he apparently finished scrolling through whatever disasters were happening throughout the world today. He put the phone down, glancing up at her. 

God.

Look, Jyn didn’t kid herself that this was actually going anywhere. They were both intensely private people, with their own issues that neither wanted to talk about, and they’d met in a bar, for Christ’s sake. That wasn’t the foundation for a real relationship! No, she was fine with this casual set-up, in which they simply texted each other every now and then, the conversation full of memes, emojis and bad jokes until they finally ran out of things to talk about and the conversation inevitably turned to … other things. Almost always, it would end in her agreeing to come over.

( _But then again, sometimes he would look at her like he was now and she would feel the slightest bit of regret that she wasn’t doing more about it_ ).

“You got plans for today?” he asked her.

“Aside from getting out of here before your insane flatmate comes back? Not much.”

“He’s not insane–”

“The first time I met him, he asked me whether I was on birth control or not,” Jyn felt the need to point out for the billionth time.

“… ok, so he’s insane,” Cassian admitted. “Fair enough, I’ll let you have first shower.”

“Thank you,” Jyn hopped off the table with a flourish.

Half an hour later, and Jyn was washed and fully dressed. She shrugged her jacket back on and shoved her feet into her boots, but it was when she was stooping to the floor to pick up her wallet and keys when she suddenly paused. The memory of how she’d initially dropped them there had slammed into her head and without any warning … she wasn’t quite ready to leave just yet.

She must have looked ridiculous half-crouched on the floor, but she couldn’t stop herself from lingering. What, was she going to miss him? Whatever this feeling was, it was ridiculous and it happened every bloody time, but she just couldn’t control the memories that flooded her brain every time it was the moment she had to walk out. She remembered his arms sliding around her waist last night, gathering up her shirt and she’d dropped her keys to fist her hands in his hair. She remembered him eventually pushing her back onto the bed, kneeling down to the floor so that his head could bury itself between her thighs. She remembered shivering, remembered clawing at his back, remembered rolling them over and linking their fingers together next to his head, hips moving in a pace that set her on fire … 

… hahahahahahaha, well, SHIT. She had to get out of here.

She quickly lurched up from the floor. Hastily darting back to the bathroom, she stuck her head around the door and yelled out,

“Hey! I’m leaving now!”

He paused from where he was apparently about to step into the shower. He gave her a warm smile and said, “Bye, Jyn.”

She honestly had no idea why she did it.

Maybe she’d finally gone a little nutty from the lack of sleep. Maybe it was the way he had turned to face her, as if he was offering up himself anyway. Maybe it was the fact that she still couldn’t get last night in particular out of her head and now that she was standing here in front of him in all his glory, it was all she could think about?

Hell, for whatever godforsaken reason … Jyn loped forward two steps and kissed him.

It was nothing, really. A casual press of lips, it lasted less than a second before she was pulling away again, turning to leave. She hadn’t even thought about it, until it hit her about three steps later. She froze in the bathroom doorway.

WHAT … WHAT DID SHE JUST DO?

She just kissed him goodbye. What the hell. That wasn’t something they did, this was supposed to be nothing! This wasn’t a relationship, this was two people who fucked every now and then, they didn’t do cuddling or kissing goodbye or cooking waffles together on a Sunday morning, Jyn giggling and wearing his shirt from the night before! Hell, Jyn wasn’t sure if she was even capable of that anymore. There weren’t supposed to be any frills, any conversations about what they were or where they were going, and there sure as all hell weren’t supposed to be any ‘feelings’ involved! What the hell was this? She felt her stomach churning and she almost turned back around to apologise, until she realised that she didn’t really want to see the look on his face (what if he was cringing just as hard as she was?  _What if he wasn’t?!_ ).

So she made her feet move forward, and she practically ran out of the flat.

Finally outside in the hallway, she could breathe again. Well, sort of. Holy shit, _holy shit_. Did she just ruin everything? He was never going to text her again! Determined to get as far away as she could in as short amount of time as possible, Jyn strode down the hallway as quick as she could without actually sprinting. She pulled out her phone, determined to call Bodhi since he always seemed to know what to do –

SLAM.

Jyn shrieked a little as she went flying. Apparently, she had walked smack right into someone, and the force of it sent her sprawling back on her arse. Her phone skidded several feet away as she hit the ground.

“Are you all right–?  _Oh_. It’s you,” a familiar voice said.

Jyn groaned out loud. Of all people, she did not want to be talking to Kay FUCKING Tu right this moment.

“I promise I was just leaving,” she rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll help myself up.”

“You should pay better attention to where you’re going,” Kay naturally didn’t get the sarcasm.

The first time they’d met was when they’d both accidentally attempted to use the bathroom at the same time in the middle of the night and the relationship hadn’t exactly gotten better from there. Cassian’s weird flatmate was blunt to the point of rudeness, and made it quite clear that he didn’t approve of their ‘arrangement’ (who the hell even called it that?). If she was ever unfortunate enough to find herself in his company, she usually spent about 90% of the time subtly making fun of him. Jyn grumbled as she hauled herself up from the floor, retrieving her poor battered phone along the way.

“Why are you leaving so early?” Kay suddenly asked her.

Jyn turned to stare incredulously at him. “Like you care?”

“Just observing. You normally stick around for much longer in the mornings after you stay the night, even when you know I'm coming home. Are you no longer satisfied with the relationship?” Kay asked. “Because I’d be more than happy with that scenario, might I suggest–?”

“I accidentally kissed him goodbye,” she suddenly blurted out.

Kay raised his eyebrows so high, she thought they might disappear into his hair, which was a feat in of itself considering the buzz cut he sported. She had no idea where that had come from. But it had been screaming inside her and apparently, it just couldn’t wait until she was out of here and furiously texting Bodhi for help. Apparently, it needed addressing now, to the point where she was even willing to talk to Cassian’s insane flatmate about it!

What was wrong with her?

“And … that’s a bad thing?” Kay looked confused.

“It’s not … Jesus, I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain this to a robot in human form, but it’s just not what we do, ok?” Jyn said, exasperatedly. “We’re not … we’ve never been serious. Kissing goodbye is something that people with feelings and emotions do and that’s not us!”

“I see,” Kay peered down at her, seemingly interested by the conundrum she had presented to him. Well, gee, that made her feel better. “As far as I’m aware, kissing someone goodbye can be considered a sign of affection. People like to be close to the ones they love and in this scenario you are leaving, so it could be seen as an expression of ‘I would prefer it if I didn’t have to go, but my responsibilities call for it, so let me be close to you one last time’.”

“… you got all that from a kiss goodbye?”

“I often don’t understand social interaction. I do my best to try.”

“I can tell,” Jyn muttered. There was a pause for a moment, in which Kay just looked at her expectedly, the two of them still standing together in the middle of the damn hallway. Finally, Jyn couldn’t take it anymore. “Well?” she added. “You’re apparently the expert, what do I do?”

“How should I know?”

“According to you, I’m getting all emotional about Cassian! C’mon, how do I stop it?”

“Most people consider emotional connections a good thing, I don’t understand why you want to stop it–”  

“Look, I’m not good at relationships, ok?” Jyn sighed in frustration. She really did not want to get into her very short list of Disastrous Dating Attempts here, but Kay was apparently annoying enough that it was coming out of her. “Every time I try, it ends in an unmitigated catastrophe,”  _Everyone leaves_ , a voice in her head sneered.  _No one sticks around in the end. It’s better to not try than to get burned again and again_ …

But thankfully, Kay couldn’t hear that.

“Why are you even sleeping with Cassian then, if you don’t want a relationship?” he asked in bewilderment.

She floundered for a moment.

“… uh, he’s hot?”

For a second, she almost thought he snorted with laughter … but Kay doesn’t laugh. He must have just been clearing his throat or something.

“So you kissed him goodbye,” he clarifies. “as an accident, you said?”

“I definitely didn’t mean to, it just … happened,” Jyn admitted. “I don’t bloody know, it probably meant nothing, like it was just a reflex reaction! Right?”

“That sounds like a decent theory. Do you have evidence to support it?”

“Evidence? Have you been watching crime shows again?”

“Cassian does not let me watch them on our shared T.V.,” Kay sighed in disappointment. “He says that he sees enough real crimes at work, which is fair.”

Jyn shook her head. This man didn’t understand sarcasm, and yet also enjoyed watching crime shows like a normal person. She’d never get this bloke. “Look, I’m just saying … when you’re sleeping with someone, even if it’s casual, you get pretty damn close, physically speaking. It’s natural to kiss goodbye, I just wasn’t thinking ok? I shouldn’t be overthinking it.”

“If you know that already, why are you still freaking out about it?”

“WHO SAYS I’M FREAKING OUT?”

“Jyn, I’m going to note here that you’re still voluntarily having a conversation with me in the middle of the hallway,” Kay gestured vaguely around them. “Usually, you would have punched me and told me to fuck off by now.”

Shit. Maybe she WAS still freaking out.

“… so it was a sign of affection, you say?” she asked, weakly.

He nodded. “Or it was just a reflex reaction,” he added on her point.

“Well, which one was it for me?”

“The hell if I know, Jyn. If I can’t predict your behaviour on any average day, what makes you think I could predict this?”

 _Your actions are continually unpredictable, Jyn Erso_ , he’d told her once. This was back when she and Cassian had barely known each other for two weeks, and Jyn had immediately responded with how the hell he’d known her last name. What followed had been a lengthy explanation of how he had apparently gone all Sherlock Bloody Holmes on them all and had managed to Facebook stalk her.

“Who is this man you were photographed with in a very affectionate pose on the 16th December, 2010?” he’d asked, shoving his phone under her face.

 “That’s my brother, Bodhi,” she’d answered incredulously. “Blimey, what is wrong with you?”

But at least the man’s actions had come from a warped sense of protectiveness over his flatmate. Cassian had been mortified upon finding out, but Jyn had simply waved it off. It wasn’t worth getting worked up over. Hell, Cassian wasn’t even supposed to be worth it, but there had to be a reason she kept coming back for more and maybe this was it? Maybe, despite everything, despite her best intentions not to … she’d gone and fallen for the bloke anyway?

She shuddered, as if that might shake away the feelings.

_Jyn, what have you gone and done?_

But ok! Ok, this wasn’t THAT bad though, right? Like, if she was going to get emotional about anyone, at least it was him at the end of the day? She could have (and had) done much worse. Hell, tossers were practically her type at this point! But Cassian had a certain charm. He was easy to talk to, easy to be herself around, and not to mention was easy on the eyes … 

But it was also easy to walk away from the tossers. Walking away from Cassian was going to hurt like a bitch.

Actually, she wasn’t even sure that she wanted to walk away.

“Kay,” she said, coughing hastily around her scratchy voice. “I don’t think it was just a reflex.”

He nodded. “What are you going to do about it, then?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this… but something. I don’t know what, but I’ve got to do  _something_.”

He sighed. “Well, I can’t say I’m ecstatic at this news, but at least this will further Cassian’s happiness.”

“Come again?”

“Well, Cassian is clearly the happiest he’s ever been since he met you,” Kay said matter-of-factly and not at all like he’d just exploded her heart inside her chest. “I don’t particularly like you, but I want him to be happy, so …”

 _Boom_.

Something clicked somewhere inside her head and apparently, that was all it took. Her resolve was firmly set.

“Kay, I’ve found that I suddenly have an idea after all – I gotta go! And I never said this, but you’re not actually so bad, ok?”

She didn't even let him respond, instead already tearing off back down the hallway. Footsteps pounding, it took her several moments to realise that running wasn’t actually going to make much difference since she was currently locked out with no key. She sighed exasperatedly, looking back at Kay pointedly until he strode after her, inserting his key and thankfully letting her back inside.

“Likewise, Jyn Erso,” he told her.

She tore through the rest of the flat in seconds, dumping her keys and jacket somewhere along the way. Cassian had apparently left the shower since it was no longer running, yet she found him still in a towel in his bedroom as he apparently searched for clothes. He glanced up when she opened the door, the words, “Hey, Kay–” on his lips, but that was about when Jyn launched herself straight into his arms.

He tasted of minty toothpaste and surprise. His skin was hot and she wound her arms tight around his neck. He didn’t pull back. In fact, they stood there entwined together in the middle of his bedroom, kissing until they were red-faced and the towel was threatening to fall to the floor. Her heart was racing so fast she wondered if this was what a heart attack was, but luckily if anything, the feeling seemed to be mutual. When she pulled back he followed, lips chasing hers until finally he allowed her to see his face. His fingers dug into her hips.

“You’re not Kay,” he made a point of mentioning.

“It wasn’t just a reflex!” she practically yelled. “Wait – shit, sorry. I should explain first.”

“That would be appreciated, thanks.”

“I ran into Kay out in the hall,” She was still wound in his arms. It made things increasingly distracting, but she forced herself on. “Sometimes it’s just a reflex, but this time I don’t think it was. I hate leaving in the mornings, Cassian. I love that you let me eat your food. And you never complain when I send you obscure memes at two in the morning. Shit, my point is that I think I like you and I suck at this kind of thing, but I – I – think I want to try anyway, yeah?”

“… you got all that from talking to Kay?” he asked in amazement.

“Yeah, you can check me for head injury later.”

“ _I resent that!_ ” a disembodied voice suddenly came from the bedroom door.

They both turned to see Kay, quite obviously eavesdropping.

 “I see ‘subtle’ is not a word in his vocab,” Jyn muttered. “Kay, GET OUT.”

“Fine!” he complained, waving a hand at her dismissively. “Go and have sex already, just let me get my headphones on first …”

“Sorry,” Jyn mentioned once he was gone.

“Hey, he’s my flatmate not yours,” Cassian said fondly. “Oh, I like you too, by the way.”

“Ah. Good.”

She could still hear Kay muttering complaints when they kissed again.

**Author's Note:**

> Quite honestly, I just wanted to write a fic in which Jyn and Kay had a real conversation. We love to play up the animosity between the two in fanfic, but I honestly think they started to care in the movie and dang it, I want more of Jyn and Kay outwardly hating each other while also knowing deep down that they'd kill anyone who hurt the other, hhahahahahahahahshfjksfjkf 
> 
> Anyway. I hope yall liked this, come scream at me on tumblr!!!! (@moonprincess92nz)   
> xoxoxo


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